On Monday, top government official Chetan Sanghi called a meeting of senior officials from the police, tribal welfare, forest and anthropological departments where it was decided to put the search for the body on hold, an official who attended the meeting told the BBC.

The official, who did not want to be named, said a boat was sent to the area on Tuesday morning, but it was “only to check the situation”.

“In the initial days several attempts were made to find the body after the tribesmen were seen dragging it. We know the general direction of where it was taken, but we still don’t know where exactly it is,” he said.

The decision to halt the search was taken because the exercise “is too risky” and also after “objections” were raised by various groups, he added.

Reports say in the past few days, police have used a ship and a helicopter to get close to the island because a murder case has been registered which has to be investigated.

But considering that the tribespeople are protected, the authorities are in a quandary about how to proceed further.

In 2006, the Sentinelese had killed two Indian fishermen who had tried to sneak on to the island. After several attempts, the administration was able to retrieve only one of the bodies. The other still remains buried there.